Friday, January 1, 2016

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am
large, I contain multitudes.”—Walt Whitman

Leslie Wu of
Forbes Magazine beat my tagline today in wishing you a Happy New Year: Says Wu:
“Although we’ll be ringing in the year
of the fire monkey for Chinese New Year in February, it could be said that 2016
will be the year of the cat…Cat cafes are springing up across Canada, where
those lacking feline companionship can reserve time with these most reserved of
creatures. From Vancouver to Montreal, the stressed, lonely or just plain cat
deprived can cuddle their woes away with adoptable new friends (in partnership
with the local SPCA or Humane Society). Although cat cafes have been popping up
globally, Canada’s entry into the market has been relatively recent.”

The domestic cat hasn’t
always been in this position in society. In fact, the cat has had a complicated
history with humanity since it first stepped into some Natufian’s rice granary
and slammed its paw on a mouse. It hasn’t been easy for Felis silvestris sybica…

Bastet

From Bastet to a witch’s
familiar… from the Chesire Cat to Schrödinger’s Cat … from Japan’s Beckoning Cat to Hello Kitty … from Aristophanes’ “the cat did it” to That Darn Cat’s wily DC … from Pokemon’s Meowth to A Cat in Paris … from Puss in
Boots and Tom Kitten to Grumpy Cat … Humanity has deified,
vilified, coddled and persecuted the domestic cat. Both icon and sacrifice, the
domestic cat has lived in paradox alongside humanity for centuries. Perhaps
because it is itself a paradox.

When I observe my cat
friend, furled out languidly, yet poised to leap, I recognize the unfettered
wildcat deep in his soul. I recognize the anima
mundi in his reflective eyes. The domestic cat embraces paradox: relaxed
and alert; fierce and calm; tame and savage; mysterious and comforting. He
embodies yin and yang.

The story of the domestic
house cat’s evolving journey is subtle, complex and rife with contradiction.
The domestic cat has evolved from wild hunter to opportunist predator and as
partner alongside humanity as companion and symbol.

It began about 11 million
years ago when the Pseudaelurus, a
medium-sized catlike animal, roamed the steppes of central Asia. Although it
went extinct in Asia, receding sea levels permitted the Pseudaelurus to migrate across what is now the Red Sea into Africa,
where it gave rise to the caracal and the serval. The Pseudaelurus also crossed the Bering land bridge into North America
and gave rise to the lynx, bobcat and puma. Isolated migrants to South America
created the ocelot and Geoffroy’s cat. The big cats—lions, tigers, jaquars and
leopards—evolved in Asia then spread to other parts of the world.

John Bradshaw, author of
“Cat Sense”, writes that today’s domestic cat evolved some 8 million years ago
in North America then migrated into Asia about 2 million years later. About 3
million years ago, they evolved into the species we know today, including the
wildcat, the jungle cat and the sand cat—whose feet pads are covered in thick
fur to protect them from the hot sand.

The first signs of
integration with human communities occurred some 10,000 BCE in Mesopotamia. Widely
regarded as the inventors of agriculture, the Natufians of 11,000 to 8,000 BCE
inhabited the once highly productive Fertile Crescent that encompassed what is
now known as Israel-Palestine, Jordan, southwestern Syria and southern Lebanon.
Initially hunter-gatherers, the Natufians

A Cat in Paris

started growing crops such as wild
cereals. When the climate changed perceptibly around 10,000 BCE, they adopted
intensive farming practices that required extensive storage. Attracted to the
bountiful harvested grain, the house mouse moved in. And right behind it came
the small wildcat. As agriculture spread, so did the “domesticated” wildcat,
exploiting a plentiful food source.

Although several wildcats
were associated with humanity, such as the fishing cat (Felis viverrina), the manul, and jaguarondi; the Arabian wildcat, Felis silvestris sybica, was identified
through DNA testing as the “mother” cat of the domesticated cat we know today.
Once so plentiful that it was considered a pest and hunted for food, this
wildcat can still be found in remote areas of Europe, Africa, central and
western Asia (where it may have first evolved). Felis silvestris comprises four subspecies: sylvestris (in Europe),
lybica (Arabia), cafra (southern
Africa), and ornata (Indian desert).

Meowth

A cat was found buried
alongside a human in a Neolithic grave in Cyprus from around 7,500 BCE. No
burials of cats were recorded from the Middle East until thousands of years
later. Was this an anomaly? Bradshaw thinks so: “a very special human and his
prized tame wildcat.” In middle Egypt some 6,500 years ago a craftsman was
buried with a gazelle (probably placed there for food in the afterlife) and a
cat. Perhaps a pet? In Abydos, a tomb dating about 4,000 years ago, was
uncovered that contained seventeen cat skeletons accompanied by seventeen
pots—of milk? Egyptians began to paint and carve pet cats around then. A set of
hieroglyphs—called “miw”—were created just for the domestic cat. Miw was adopted as a name for girls,
suggesting how integrated the domestic cat had become in Egyptian society. Cats
were depicted sitting in baskets or under a person’s chair (usually a female),
and sometimes with a fish.

Miss Pussy Cat's Tea Party

Egypt doted on cats and worshipped
them as god-animals. Bradshaw writes that the sun god, Ra, was occasionally
depicted with the head of a cat and referred to as “Miuty.” Cat deities
include: Pakhet, a lioness deity; and Sekhmet. Bastet was most associated with
the domestic cat. She was
the keeper of hearth and home, protector of women’s secrets, guardian against
evil spirits and disease, and the goddess of cats. Bastet was commonly depicted as a woman
with a lion’s head and carrying a serpent on her forehead. Later versions of
Bastet more closely resembled a domestic cat as she became associated more with
playfulness, fertility, motherhood, and female sexuality. Bastet or Bast was
often associated with Isis (Ba-Ast translates to “soul of Isis”) and cats
commonly found refuge in the temples of Isis. Fierceness and calm describes the
goddess Isis as well as the cat. One theory of domestic cat distribution
suggests that they followed the spread of temples of Isis. It was illegal to
harm an Egyptian cat or to take it out of Egypt.

Tom Kitten

Joshua J. Mark, professor
of philosophy at Marist College, New York, recounts how the Egyptian’s devotion
to the cat was exploited by the Persians during the Battle of Pelusium (525
BCE) in which Cambyses II of Persia defeated the forces of the Egyptian Pharoah
Psametik III to conquer Egypt. “Knowing of the Egyptian’s love for cats,”
writes Mark, “Cambyses had his men round up various animals, cats chiefly among
them, and drive the animals before the invading forces toward the fortified
city of Pelusium on the Nile. The Persian soldiers painted images of cats on
their shields, and may have held cats in their arms, as they marched behind the
wall of animals. The Egyptians, reluctant to defend themselves for fear of
harming the cats (and perhaps incurring the death penalty should they kill
one), and demoralized at seeing the image of Bastet on the enemy’s shields,
surrendered the city and let Egypt fall to the Persians.”

Van Gogh cat by Susan Herbert

The Egyptians are also
responsible for the name “cat”, which comes from the North African word for the
animal, quattah. Most Europeans use
variations on this word: French, chat; Swedish, katt; German, katze;
Italian, gatto; Spanish, gato. The colloquial word for a cat,
“puss” or “pussy”, is also associated with Egypt in that it derives from the
word Pasht, another name for Bastet.

The Indian cat goddess, Sastht,
was greatly revered much in the same way as Bastet.

According to Mark, a
Persian tale claims that the cat was created magically: “The great Persian hero
Rustum, out on campaign, one night saved a magician from a band of thieves.
Rustum offered the older man the hospitality of his tent and, as they sat outside
under the stars, enjoying the warmth of a fire, the magician asked Rustum what
he wished for as a gift in repayment for saving the man’s life. Rustum told him
that there was nothing he desired since everything he could want, he already
had before him in the warmth and comfort of the fire, the scent of the smoke
and the beauty of

Van Gogh cat "after" by Susan Herbert

the stars overhead. The magician then took a handful of
smoke, added flame, and brought down two of the brightest stars, kneading them
together in his hands and blowing on them. When he opened his hands toward
Rustum, the warrior saw a small, smoke-grey kitten with eyes bright as the
stars and a tiny tongue, which darted like the tip of flame. In this way, the
first Persian cat came to be created as a token of gratitude to Rustum. The
prophet Muhammed was also very fond of cats. According to legend, the `M’
design on the forehead of the tabby cat was made when the prophet blessed his
favourite cat by placing his hand on its head.”

Cats are thought to have
been brought to Europe by Phoenician traders who smuggled them out of Egypt. By about 2,400 years ago, domestic cats
became popular in other parts of the world such as Greece and Italy. Paintings
typically showed cats unleashed and relaxing in the presence of people. They
also appeared on gravestones, obviously as the pets of the people buried there.
Greeks called them aielouros or
“waving tail.” The same occurred in Rome, where cats typically appeared with
women (men more commonly appeared with a dog). Felicula (little kitten) became a common name for girls.

As in Egypt, the
domesticated cat became associated with goddesses in Greece and Italy,
particularly Artemis or Diana. Ovid’s tale of mythical war between gods and
giants, recounts how Diana escaped to Egypt and changed into a cat to escape
capture. The cat was associated with Hecate, the goddess of death, darkness and
witches. In the myth, Hera, enraged by the behaviour of a maidservant,
transformed her into a cat and sent her to the underworld to serve Hecate.

Freya and chariot cats

In early Europe cats were
not yet persecuted. Norse mythology depicted feral cats pulling the chariot of
Freya, the goddess of fertile life and Nature. In Ireland and Scotland cats were
deemed magical—in a good way.

The Pheonician traders may
also have introduced to the rest of Europe the Greek association of the cat
with Hecate. The association of cats with darkness, transformation, the
underworld and witchcraft—and paganism in general—would lead to their persecution
in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Negative consequences of
deification occurred both in Egypt and in Greece: in the form of cat sacrifice (and
mummification). The ancient Celtic tradition of burying or killing cats to
bring good luck also spread across Europe. European cities celebrated a
Festival of Cats in which cats were thrown into a sac and suspended over a
fire; their screams supposedly warded off evil spirits. In Ypres during
Kattenstoet, cats were thrown from the top of a tower to save the town. The
last time a live cat was thrown off the bell tower at Ypres, Belgium was as
recent as 1817. The cat festival still occurs in Ypres using plush cats and a
mock witch burning.

As the Dark Ages gave way
to the Middle Ages and Christianity established itself in Europe

Katentoet 2015 in Ypres, Belgium

in the 12th
and 13th centuries, cats suffered from their affiliation with pagan beliefs, which
were considered cults and connected with Satan. The Catholic Church tried to
extirpate domestic cats in continental Europe. On June 13th of 1233,
Pope Gregory published his Vox in Rama
wherein cats—particularly black cats—were demonized. Millions were tortured and
killed, along with their female owners, who were considered witches. Some
historians argue—though this has been disputed—that the aggressive killing of
cats allowed the urban rodent and associated flea populations to thrive, which brought
in the Bubonic Plague of the 1300s. Although also susceptible to the plague,
enough cats must have survived both plague and human abuse to enjoy a better
day.

Elsewhere, the cats faired
better. Bradshaw writes of the Sultan Baibars, ruler of Egypt and Syria, who
founded the first sanctuary for homeless cats in Cairo in 1280.

Cat lounging on a park bench

Today, in
North America and Europe and other parts of the world, the domestic and feral
cat seem to enjoy a renaissance existence in which they are generally treated
well or at least left alone.

Sushi cat

In Japan, a
cat may find itself doted on to the point of “torture”. “Hello Kitty, arguably
Japan’s most famous export, is only the tip of the iceberg,” wrote La Carmina
in her blog post of 2013. “Take a walk around Tokyo, and you’ll see cat faces
on every product imaginable...” from bowler hats with pointy ears, kitty
petting zoos and Chesire cat pizza. Japanese folklore give cats a protective
power that symbolize good fortune.

Marks writes
about Japan’s “Beckoning Cat” (the maneki neko figure of the cat with
one

Maneki neko

raised paw), which represents the goddess of mercy. According to legend, a
cat sitting outside of the temple of Gotoku-ji raised her paw to acknowledge
the emperor who was passing by. Attracted by the cat’s gesture, the emperor
entered the temple just as lightning struck the very spot where he had been
standing; the cat had saved his life and was accorded great honours. The
Beckoning Cat image is thought to bring good luck when given as a gift and
remains a very popular present in Japan. Several islands off Japan have been
called “Cat Island”. On Tashirojima
Island in Ishinomaki City, cats come to welcome the boats at the port. Many
wait patiently around the fishing port for fishermen to return. Neko-jinja located in the central area
of the island enshrines a “cat god” in hope of a good catch and safety of the
fishermen. Aoshima Island in the Shikoku area is also known as “Cat Island”.
The catch-phrase of this island is “15 residents and 100 cats.”

Cat Island, Japan

In Toronto,
where I presently live, TOT the Cat Café, a coffee house, lounge and place to see
and play with cats, has opened in November 2015 on College Street. The café has
a lounge where patrons may interact with up to ten cats from the Toronto Humane
Society (who are obviously up for adoption!). Friends and business partners, Kenneth Chai and Scott
Tan are the cat fans behind the new café. The duo quit their jobs
in Saskatoon and moved to Toronto, investing all their own money to
realize their vision — a place that would offer both lattes and
friendly felines. TOT is
the first cat café in Toronto but not in Canada. There are several in Quebec,
including Le Café Des Chats in Montreal (opened in 2014) and one in Chelsea,
Quebec (Siberian Cat Café in late 2015) and Vancouver’s Catfé on West Pender,
which opened in mid-December of 2015. Toronto’s Kitty Cat Café—self-professed “Purr
Therapy and Coffee Lounge” in addition to pet adoption—will open soon.

Cat sleeping in a pot

On the West
Coast cat cafés exist in Portland, Oregon, San José, California, San Francisco
and Los Angeles. The idea was born in Taiwan in 1998, and spread to Japan,
where it's estimated there are now nearly 150 cat cafés, and Europe (e.g.,
Vienna).

About Nina

I'm The Alien Next Door. I'm an ecologist and a published author of several novels, articles and reviews. I teach writing at George Brown College and UofT. I also coach writers. For more on writing (articles and advice) and more information about my coaching, visit me at Nina Munteanu Writing Coach. Visit Nina Munteanu Writer for more about my own writing. My new site The Meaning of Water is devoted to our precious water and brings my interest as an ecologist and limnologist to help understand the meaning and importance of this precious and mysterious element. Inside, you'll find articles that explore what water is and its meaning to this planet and to us as a species and life form.